DEERFIELD — Nudged with a stick down the throat and out the bottom of a model dinosaur, a billiard ball rolls down a track, past the names of Dexter Marsh, Edward Hitchcock and James Deane, who are credited with discovering the dinosaur footprints in the Pioneer Valley in the 1800s.
The ball then pays its respects to representations of the tap and die industry once so important to Greenfield, the Memorial Hall Museum of early American life in Deerfield, graham cracker inventor Sylvester Graham of Northampton, the fish elevator in Holyoke, and the Dr. Seuss National Memorial Sculpture Garden in Springfield.
It may sound unusual, but it was the Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association and Greenfield’s Museum of Our Industrial Heritage’s contribution to TENacious Engineering, a statewide project to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Cambridge Science Festival. The PVMA in Deerfield and the industrial museum are the Franklin County partners in the project that consists of 10 creative contraptions built by 10 different museums partnerships across Massachusetts. Each of these devices will be filmed as a 1-minute section of a 10-minute video that will move seamlessly from one machine to the next across the state, highlighing industrial heritage and history of different regions.
A professional camera crew visited the Deerfield Teachers’ Center on Wednesday to film a Pioneer Valley segment.
The Deerfield-Greenfield contribution consists of a billiard ball rolling down a volunteer-constructed model representing various significant spots along the Connecticut River. Armene Margosian and husband Tim Hinman teamed up with Sheila Damkoehler of the PVMA to build a linear model of some of the most special parts of western Massachusetts.
Activating certain non-consequential mechanisms involving chain reactions and pulley systems along the way, the ball goes through the body of a dinosaur and continues downward on the contraption that resembles a model traintrack with a covered bridge made of graham crackers.
Margosian said the handmade model likely took 150 hours to complete, with the dinosaur alone consuming 50 hours.
Jay Stryker, a founder of the Museum of Our Industrial Heritage who sits on its board of directors, said he supplied many of the materials for the model and helped get it ready.
“I’m very pleased with it,” he said.
The Cambridge Science Festival is billed as a 10-day celebration of science, technology, engineering, art and math. The 170-event festival, which takes place in various spots mostly in the Boston area, is scheduled to begin in Harvard Square on April 15. Gov. Charlie Baker is expected to present the 10-minute project video as part of the opening ceremonies.
This will be the seventh year that PVMA will participate in the Cambridge Science Festival as part of its Massachusetts Cultural Council-funded Jurassic Roadshow dinosaur tracks project.
Christopher Thomas, owner of Charlestown AV, and employees Miranda Giuffrida and Dylan Waterhouse have been contracted to film the video project.
“It’s been going great. Each group interpreted really differently,” Thomas said. “It’s very cool. I think that’s why they decided to do it in these 10 spots.”
He described the project as a seamless, scenic trip through parts of Massachusetts via artistic models. The other locations are Cambridge, Boston, Cape Cod, Attleboro, Lawrence, Framingham, Leominster, Worcester and North Adams.
You can reach Domenic Poli at: dpoli@recorder.com
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